Board game bonding

By Mo Cranker on July 9, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

People in the city who may often find themselves bored and looking for something to do should look no further than Board Game Guy.

Steven Durk recently started offering up his board game collection and expertise to local businesses with the hopes of bringing people together and sharing his love for board games.

“A big part of doing this is bringing community together,” he said. “I’ve started to go around to local businesses and hosting events at their locations, and what I do is bring a part of my collection of board games for people to try out.

“It allows people to go to a restaurant or somewhere they may not have tried in a while, play some board games and support a local business — all while having a great time.”

Durk picks one featured board game for each event and brings along another couple dozen for people to choose from, all with the hopes that they will find something they like.

“I got the idea while playing games with my family,” he said. “Just seeing my kids and my family having a good time over the years, and seeing how many friends we’ve connected with — I wanted to help people make connections like that.

“I just think that would be great to share with the community.”

Durk hosted an event at Medalta’s Thursday market, as well as two on the weekend at local businesses, and he says board games are on the rise.

“Over the past few years people have really started to get into board games, and a lot of people are getting back into them,” he said. “So much of our lives are based around technology like our phones, and even if you go on a date with a significant other, our heads end up buried in our phones.

“Board games offer so much interaction and fun — they really are a great form of entertainment.”

Durk works full time during the week and all of the games offered are part of his own personal collection. He says for now his services will stay free.

“I’m pretty busy with work right now and with the family, so I’m not able to do too many of these events,” he said. “The goal is the keep these going as free events, but if they get super popular we may need to charge a small fee so we can keep games clean and complete.”

To get in touch with Durk or to see when his next event is go to facebook.com/mhboardgameguy

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